Newslinks for Sunday 16th November 2014

Putin leaves G20 early after clashes with Harper and Cameron

“In an encounter described as “robust” by Downing Street, Cameron warned Putin that he was at a “fork in the road” in his relations with the West and could face further sanctions. The prime minister said: “If Russia continues to destabilise Ukraine and we continue to see Russian troops and Russian tanks inside Ukraine, then there’s going to have to be a very different relationship between Britain and Europe on one hand and Russia on the other, and a potential for further sanctions.” – Sunday Times (£)

Claim of secret Osborne deal over EU budget

“Despite previously opposing proposals to boost the EU’s contingency fund for this year, Britain abstained in a vote that would have handed an extra £2.4bn to the European Commission. Following talks between the EU finance ministers on Friday, David Gauke, the Treasury minister, abstained even though other countries opposed to higher spending, including Germany, France, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland, all voted against the plans. The proposals were rejected but the commission intends to return with new ones this month.” – Sunday Times (£)

Another Chancellor-has-helped-the-rich study in a left-of-centre-paper – The Observer

IDS battles with advisers over methadone

“Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Duncan Smith criticises a decision last week by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the Home Office’s expert body on drugs, urging ministers not to put a limit on how long addicts can be placed methadone. Mr Duncan Smith will call for addicts to be fully freed from a life on heroin in a speech to the Social Justice Conference.” – Sunday Telegraph

“Education Minister Nick Gibb said having a teacher speak to the class as a whole from the front was much more effective than children working on their own – the method which has become dominant in schools over the past 40 years. Mr Gibb’s intervention, which will infuriate many in the educational establishment, follows a Government scheme in which more than 70 maths teachers from British primaries went to Shanghai to study the teaching styles of their Chinese counterparts.” – Mail on Sunday

The neighbourhoods with no teenagers that pass key GCSEs – Mail on Sunday

Schools 2) Morgan warns teachers over Facebook snaps

“Teachers will be warned not to leave compromising photographs of themselves enjoying beach holidays or attending parties on Facebook, under guidance designed to curb a rising tide of online abuse by pupils and their parents. Teachers will be told they must not befriend pupils online, and ensure that their mobile phones are password -protected to prevent private pictures being intercepted, under advice drawn up by Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary.” – Sunday Telegraph

New adoption therapy support fund to be launched by Timpson

“The Adoption Support Fund, set to be rolled out next summer, will pay for behavioural therapy, play and music to help girls and boys come to terms with adoption. Edward Timpson, the minister for Children and Families, said: “The new Adoption Support Fund will be a vital lifeline for many adoptive families, helping them to access specialist support services when their family needs them most.” – Independent on Sunday

Up to 50 Tory MPs back bid to end licence fee claim

“The Sunday Express has learnt that among those calling for the fee to be scrapped is Conservative vice-chairman Rebecca Harris. Insiders say if the review into funding goes ahead, subscription could become a viable option in discussions for the next BBC Charter in two years. In a letter to Mr Javid, seen by the ­Sunday Express, Andrew Bridgen argues that the current BBC funding structure is “increasingly becoming unsustainable and out of keeping with the modern media environment”.” – Sunday Express

Dominic Raab MP: The Commons must take this week’s second chance to ditch the European Arrest Warrant

“There are two fundamental flaws in the system. First, courts approving the EAW can’t ask whether there is even the slightest evidential case to answer. Second, the EAW is ‘unworkable’, because it assumes common standards of justice across Europe, when the post-Soviet justice systems in many Eastern European countries are truly appalling.” – Mail on Sunday

Case of innocent teacher arrested for arson, flung into Greek prison cell and stung for £40k under EAW – Mail on Sunday

Adam Boulton: Miliband – deserted by his Shadow Cabinet

“On the new Labour side, Chuka Umunna played down “zero-zero”, following up with a joint interview with Rachel Reeves, the shadow work and pensions minister, in which they tried to reassure business that an Ed government would not impose the £8-an-hour minimum wage he has advocated. Ed Balls is cold on the mansion tax and putting business in the corner. On the populist left, Andy Burnham is agitating for stronger action by the next Labour government to shut the private sector out of the NHS. And the bookish education spokesman Tristram Hunt argues that the answer to Labour’s problems is not showing more of Miliband.” – Sunday Times (£)

On the campaign trail in Rochester, Hunt blasts Farage over his support for ending the NHS

“Mr Hunt made the demand after a newspaper released video footage of Mr Farage suggesting public funding of the NHS be replaced by a private insurance model. Mr Farage later said it was an idea he “threw out for debate” two years ago but had since rejected. Speaking as he joined the campaign trail in Rochester and Strood for Thursday’s by-election, Mr Hunt said: “Earlier this year Nigel Farage was saying only Ukip would have the courage to cut the NHS budget, now they are going around telling the people of Rochester and Strood they want to protect the NHS budget.” – Sunday Express

The hospitals with the longest waiting times in the country – Mail on Sunday

Conservative Cabinet Minister says that his Party will lose – The Observer

SNP name their price: abandon Trident to put Miliband in Downing Street

“Mrs Sturgeon said the odds on a hung Parliament “shorten by the day”…Scotland could well hold the balance of power in a Westminster parliament with no overall majority. If that happens, I promise our country this. You won’t need to have voted Labour to keep the Tories out, because that’s what we’ll do. My pledge to Scotland today is simple – the SNP will never, ever, put the Tories into government.” Laying out the demands the nationalists would make for a pact with Labour, she said: “Think about how much more we could win for Scotland from a Westminster Labour government if they had to depend on SNP votes.” – Sunday Telegraph

Convicted drug users and thieves will be allowed to join police

“The College of Policing, which sets standards for the profession, is to publish a code of practice in the New Year on the vetting of would-be police officers. It will set out a relaxation of the current rules – which ban anyone with previous convictions, cautions or fines in all but the most exceptional circumstances – on the grounds that it is keeping potentially valuable people from becoming police officers.” – Mail on Sunday

Frontline combat role for women in the army to be approved – Mail on Sunday

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